Shelter to stay open with new management

An emergency response center for men that was in danger of closing will remain open, but it will be managed by a different social service agency, officials said.

In November, the REST Warming Center for men, run inside Epworth United Methodist Church at 5253 N. Kenmore Ave., was looking for a new location after it lost city funding.

Then the center regained the money but still faced closing if it could not find a new home by Jan. 16.

On Wednesday, the office of Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) sent an e-mail to residents of her ward saying Epworth church officials had "graciously agreed to keep the shelter in place with changes."

"There is a new space-sharing agreement, heating assistance arrangement and a new direct provider," says the e-mail, which was sent by Doug Fraser, Smith's chief of staff.

As of Jan. 16, Kathleen Ahler, executive director of REST, will no longer run the shelter, as she has for 14 years.

"We have run that site without complaints from neighbors," a tearful Ahler said Wednesday. "You don't replace an agency that's done an excellent job."

At the same time, Ahler said, she was relieved that the shelter would remain open.

"I feel no support from the city for all the effort we've put in for the last 14 years at this site," she said.

Brady Harden, president of Inner Voice Inc., the non-profit that doles out more than $2 million in city funding to emergency-response centers for almost 1,000 beds, said Epworth church officials contacted him and said they wanted a new service provider to run the shelter.

"It was a landlord-tenant issue. The landlord decided to go in another direction," Harden said.

The church "wanted to continue to operate the program but with a different provider. They asked if we could recommend one," he said.

Pastor Joe Johnson of Epworth said Thursday he was notified of the new arrangements and confirmed the shelter would now be managed by the Jesus People, an organization based in Uptown.

Johnson declined to elaborate on the funding and management changes, but said, "We are very satisfied with the outcome of what has happened."

The shelter will work with local agencies to connect participants to interim housing and social services, according to the letter from Smith's office.

Officials at the Chicago Department of Human Services and Fraser could not be reached for comment Thursday.